Monday, November 29, 2010

Can you hear me now? Plug your ears before you blow out your eardrumsRocking out at home is one thing, but Spice Girls reunion concerts, lawn mowers, or fireworks can damage your hearing permanently. Properly fitting earplugs can provide a marked reduction in the amount of sound energy you're exposed to. Try Mack's silicone earplugs ($5 for six pairs,earplugstore.com) or have an audiologist custom-make a pair for you. Cranking up the volume to 11 on your headphones can cause damage too, so listen at a reasonable decibel level. Don't make us repeat ourselves.Watch where you stick that - Don't apply mascara in the carOne of the most common eye injuries: corneal abrasions caused bymascarawands. Youch!

You snooze, you win!
Studies show that power naps can help you kill stress and recharge; just don't doze for more than a half hour. After 30 minutes, your body enters the deep stages of sleep, and studies show that if you wake up right before deep sleep, you'll feel more refreshed.

Stop...drinking your calories.
Between 1995 and 2002, the number of calories Americans swigged each day more than doubled--and those from sugary quenchers like soda, fruit drinks, and alcohol quadrupled. That's a whole lot of Jamba Juice, people.

Know Thyself

Know your body composition A study published in the International Journal of Obesity found that 25 to 30 percent of young women with a normal BMI (19 to 25) still carry excessive body fat. The easiest way to check your body composition is with bioelectric impedance analysis, available in many gyms and doctors' offices.

Know your family's health history Quiz the hell out of relatives, then download everything you learn to your M.D. Need help coming up with a list of questions? The U.S. Surgeon General's Family Health Portrait (familyhistory.hhs.gov ) offers easy instructions.

Know your cancer risk The American Cancer Society's Great American Health Check (cancer.org/greatamericans ) asks a few questions about your personal and family health history and then generates a list of recommended screening tests, plus tips on how to reduce your health risks. (We were told to nix the second margarita at happy hour and cut out the Cadburys.)

Know your cholesterol levels A survey by the Society for Women's Health Research revealed that less than a third of American women know their numbers. Get your cholesterol checked every five years, starting at age 20. You're in the clear if your total number is under 200 mg/dL, with an LDL (that's the bad kind) of less than 100 mg/dL and an HDL (that's the good kind) of 50 mg/DL or more.

Know your resting heart rate The lower the number, the less your heart has to work (and that's a good thing). Take your pulse in the morning, when you're most relaxed. Measure the number of beats in 10 seconds, then multiply by six. Your number should be between 60 and 80--even lower if you're athletic.

Know your waist-to-hip ratio The best test for predicting heart attacks may be the proportion of your waist to your hips. Measure your waist at the smallest point, then measure your hips at the widest point. Divide the first number by the second number: an ideal ratio is 0.8 or lower.

Eat These Foods. Every. Single. Day.

Broccoli sprouts
Turns out broccoli sprouts contain up to 50 times the amount of cancer-fighting compounds found in mature broccoli heads.

Canola and olive oil
Stop sidling up to the bar: Replace the butter and margarine in your stir-fries with vegetable oils. The omega-3 fatty acids and unsaturated fats may help slash cholesterol levels as well as your risk for heart disease.
Cinnamon
Become a spice girl: This antioxidant-rich seasoning slows down the rate at which your stomach unloads that enchilada lunch, which prevents blood sugar spikes and crashes. In fact, studies show that a half-teaspoon a day lowers blood sugar and cholesterol in people with type 2 diabetes.

OJ
A six-ounce glass of 100 percent juice (that means no added sugar) every day reduces your risk of stroke by up to 20 percent. Bonus points for gulping the kind with fiber-rich pulp.

Nuts
Popping a handful daily has been shown to lower heart disease risk by 35 percent.

Tea
Green, black, and white are all teeming with antioxidants. However, green tea is uniquely high in a chemical called EGCG, one of the most potent anticancer compounds ever found. Steep any color for at least three minutes and squeeze the bag at the end for an extra antioxidant punch.

Hot cocoa
You can improve your ticker's health with an eight-ounce cup of hot chocolate as much as you can with a glass of merlot--minus the hangover. Go healthy with 100 percent unsweetened and non-alkalized cocoa powder (like Hershey's Cocoa) and fat-free milk.

Berries
Scientists in Finland found that eating five ounces a day offers a healthy-heart triple play by reducing the risk for cardiovascular disease, improving levels of good cholesterol, and lowering blood pressure.

Don't Think Twice About…

Ditching Facebook
Scrabulous games may be fun, but they don't replace face time. In one of many studies linking social ties to better health, an Ohio State University survey found that participants who ID'd themselves as lonely had higher levels of cortisol, a stress hormone that increases the risk of heart disease. Conversely, having a strong social network improves immune function, protects heart health, and wards off depression and anxiety. You do the math. Cocktails are on us.

Crushing on Seth Rogen
The amount of mood-stabilizing endorphins released from one minute of laughing is the same as the amount released with 10 minutes of strenuous rowing. We'll take Judd Apatow over LifeCore any day.

Calling in "sick" next Friday
One in six American employees are so overloaded they can't even use their annual vacation time. Yet according to a study from the Families and Work Institute, 21 percent of people who are highly overworked experience symptoms of clinical depression.

Jumping his bones
A good romp can torch up to 200 calories (equal to running 15 minutes on a treadmill) and has been linked to everything from fewer colds to reduced PMS symptoms, and even a sharper sense of smell.

Ruining your appetite
Noshing on healthy fats (like pistachios, olives, or peanut butter) about 20 minutes before a meal helps your stomach digest food more slowly, so you'll feel full longer. Foods like these may also help your body absorb fat-soluble vitamins such as A, D, E, and K.

Sucking into skinny jeans
Wriggling them on once a month can show you exactly how your body's changing--a better indicator than stepping on the scale, since your weight can rise even if you're burning fat and increasing muscle mass.

Stop...asking your doc for an antibiotic every time you sniffle. Overusing antibiotics can lead to drug- resistant bacteria, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention call one of the world's biggest health challenges. The drugs also kill your body's good bacteria (like those that protect against yeasty beasties) along with the bad.

But give these a rest, will ya?

Processed and refined carbs
Eating foods with fewer than three grams of fiber and more than 10 grams of sugar per serving (look at the label) increases your risk for heart disease and diabetes.

Hot dogs, bologna, sausage…
Processed meats are fat-and-salt bombs, and they also contain nitrates, which have been linked to several types of cancer.

Artificial sweeteners
Five hundred times as sweet as sugar and zero calories? Sounds pretty good. But studies show that those of us who use them are more likely to be overweight than not. The reason: The sweet taste tricks your body into thinking it's about to get a rush of caloric energy; when it doesn't arrive, you crave even more food.

"Fortified" junk food
Don't be fooled by flashy nutritional claims on the front of a package--it's the label on the back you need to study. Never buy products that list sugar (or sucrose, fructose, etc.) among the first three ingredients, and remember that "enriched flour" is just a fancy way of saying "refined white flour." (It needs to be enriched because the refining process destroys most of the nutrients.)

Booze
Limit your alcohol intake to one drink a day; two or more can increase your risk for dementia later in life. After you've downed your daily allowance of tequila sunrises, try nipping an unsweetened iced tea instead.

A.M.

Floss those pearly whites
Brushing alone can miss up to 30 percent of the surface of your teeth--a lot like taking a shower but washing only 70 percent of your body.

Swish and spit
Our experts recommend using a mouthwash that's been proven to prevent and reduce gingivitis, which affects half of all U.S. adults.

Wake up and fill up
Even we are tired of saying "breakfast is the most important meal of the day." But research shows that morning noshers tend to eat less fat and cholesterol and more fiber throughout the day and have healthier body weights.

Do a shot of SPF
As in, one full ounce slathered over your bod. To guard against both UVA and UVB rays, choose a sunscreen with zinc (or zinc oxide) or titanium (or titanium dioxide).

Strike a pose
Practicing yoga fights extra poundage by supporting endocrine and thyroid function as well as by lowering cortisol, a stress hormone that promotes weight gain around your middle. Yogis say back bends (try cobra pose) can even boost your energy if you're dragging in the morning. Check out our yoga channel for photos and descriptions of poses.

P.M.

Brush, floss, and rinse with mouthwash Yes, again. On nights when you'd rather just collapse into bed, chew on this: According to an article in the The Journal of the American Dental Association, your mouth harbors 400 to 800 species of bacteria--and they're making a beeline for your tooth enamel.

Turn off the TV and close your laptop an hour before bed. The glowing screens emit a blue light that keeps you up by suppressing melatonin, a hormone that regulates your body clock.

Crank Corinne Bailey Rae, take a warm bath, or slurp a cup of herbal tea: Calming pre-bed rituals like these can help you decompress both mentally and physically. Do them every night and they'll start to cue your brain that it's snooze time, making you nod off faster.

Set your coffeemaker Java is the No. 1 source of cancer-fighting antioxidants in our diets, and studies show that a good brew can help you perform better on tests that measure concentration, memory, and learning and even help protect against ovarian cancer. Limit yourself to two or three cups a day--or decaf--to avoid jitters and late nights staring at the ceiling.

Don't Leave Home Without 'Em... (i make sure to do this if you have a disease or sever allergies carrying these may mean the difference between life and death)

Health insurance card
Get insured now, before a problem shows up that will be considered pre-existing if you shop for coverage later. Learn more about your options online from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (ahrq.gov/consumer/insuranceqa) or the Foundation for Health Coverage Education (coverageforall.org).

Personal medical record
After tumbling head-first over your niece's Big Wheel, the list of prescription drugs you're taking won't exactly roll off your tongue--especially if you're, um, unconscious. Line your wallet with a list of your meds (including supplements), allergies or drug sensitivities, the name and number of your primary-care doctor, conditions you're being treated for, and a brief family history of major medical problems.

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Ello everyone how yall doing this Sunday. As you can tell i'm in a good mood. So i have decided I'm just going to stand up to my fear of vids and start making my videos on you-tube :). so today has been spent cooking cleaning and you-tubing i have allot of subscriptions and i rarely actually look at them so i felt the need to actually watch them then i searched for some VEGAN youtube channels that i can support.
i found this specific video posting that actually made me subscribe to her channel because it was informative and it looks like she obviously did allot of work on it. so here you go.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hBwgVBxVAk

This video is for all the vegans out there starting out and old if you wanted to know about products that aren't vegan and ones that are well here ya go i shall actually be doing my own vid once I'm finished with my own research its just going to be one huge haul thing so yea lots of planning.

well so my Sunday started off like this.

I know , I know this is not the everyday breakfast but it was eleven o clock after all so we shall call it brunch.
i took my moms beans and had black bean soup (My Fave) and a hero and cup up half of the hero and left a bit of it together and made a small left over tofurkey seitan sandwich. inside the sandwich was my Ecuadorian salad sauce.

Not only does the sauce add color to the sandwich but it also adds a ZING to it.

So as the day went on i got to thinking about my babe and how when i finally get to see him this week i need to have something for him to eat. Especially since we did not get to spend Thanks Giving with each other. So i decided to make. ...........WAIT FOR IT .......... (dan dan duuuuuuunnnnn)

Empanadas!

you get some garlic and put some cumin, adobo . Sazon , and a tad of ground Oregano. And smash away !

(in case you are wondering i don't have measurements because this is more of a as much as you like also depends on how many empanadas you are making. )

When your done mashing up the garlic with all the dry ingredients. Take a frying pan and put the mashed up garlic and some of the chopped garlic and onions with some olive oil and stri fry that a little bit. Once it is a little bit like a liquid mixture place your meat substitute and mix together.

so i have made this before and i used light life (ground beef) . But the ground beef i left at home went bad so that was out of the question. So i decided to use seitan i took the cubes and cut them up into almost small ground beef like structures. I put this in the pan and mixed together. then i transferred to it a small sauce pan and put some tomatoe paste , white cooking wine, and red wine vinegar. at the end your mixture and sauce should look some what like this.

Then you take some of these :

you can get these at your local supermarket i got mine from Pathmark. These are just some Empanada Pastry plates. they say it on the packaging.

You place some of the meat sauce (its what i call it ) into the middle of the pastry packet thing and fold it over like this.

when you fold it over you press it down so that it actually makes a pocket for the meat. then the little wedges on the outside take a fork and press onto the sides of it like this:

Friday, November 26, 2010

Hello everyone, I'm sure you are all stuffed from yesterday.So my first Thanks Giving as a vegan was a success i managed to have allot more to eat than i expected. First off i would just like to say that i hope everyone had a happy thanks giving and i shall be telling this post in pictures.

Happy Thanks Giving hope you had a great one with family and friends.

So our mini school vacation started out with me trying to figure out what i'm going to cook for Thanks Giving my mom said that she would have several sides that i could eat but that the faux turkey i would basically have to conjure up myself . We took a trip to whole foods where i found what was going to be my cruelty free turkey.

Ive heard that the Tofurkey roast is really good so i got it. the rest of the groceries are some necessities to make green juice. (I have been dying to make green juice)

when we got home i followed the directions on the Tofurkey that said to take it out to thaw. But i also wanted to have something to eat so i had some of Amy's Tamale and Mexican rice (vegan) it was so good.

I actually want to make this tamale myself because I never liked tamales (don't tell me mother i will deny it to the death ) but i picked it out because i thought maybe it would be better and it was.

Yesterday began the cooking hours and hours of cooking. Here comes the parade of picture showing you how our Thanks Giving went .

most of the desserts in my family are usually centered around my mothers flan.If you follow me on Twitter you know that my mom made about seven different flans one for every family member and friend that requested one. her last one was made for our dinner but prior to this me and m brother were lugging around flans all over my town.

This was the Amy's cake that came in the Tofurkey holiday feat package. My brother loved the cake he gobbled it up he barley wanted to share with me and rosie. I'm not a huge fan of Chocolate but this cake was very good I wish I would have gotten another piece of it but i allowed my brother to take a little left over that was left of the cake.

Do you have a twitter ? if so this is my bestie rosey also known as Rosie21 on twitter she also has a BLOG. that you can check out.

Me , my brother Mark , & Rosie

They were caught off guard.

Mom, Me, Brother,&Dad <3 La Famila Valladares

Although the Thanks Giving was success full not allot of m family members wanted to try my vegan foods. I was a bit disappointed that my Tofuerkey was judge over and over again because it was not the real bird but i though it tasted amazing and I'm glad i used my mothers home made baste instead of the one on the package because it smelled like past thanks giving s. I realize me being vegan in a Latin family is still an idea they have to get use to but for now I'm just going to grin quietly at the fact that the had some of the Tofurkey gravy and a bit of the cake. I will slowly sneak in my vegan foods so that my family realizes its just as much filled with flavor as the things they cook are. Baby steps i know but at least its some progress right ?

Hope you all had a Wonderful Thanks Giving and if the rest of you have the weekend off enjoy your shopping sprees. If any vegans want to meet up in NYC let me know i might possibly be heading to NYC with rosie and my brother for some vegan eating.

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

So i went through several blogs and picked out which recipes i cant wait to try whether it be for the holidays or just for fun. Most of the ones this week are for the holidays after all it is almost thanks giving.
1) this is by Go Vegan Meow i chose this one purely for fun it lets me have some of my Spanish flavor.

2) this recipe is by I Eat Treats i cant wait to make this and review it i have a feeling it is going to taste amazing.

3) Vegan Egg Nog by La Pure Mama i cant wait to make this for me my boyfriend and roommate :) .

So i recently just had highlights added to my hair. So when it comes to my hair im a bit just a bit obsessed. i mean come-on a girls hair has to look good from time to time right ? well this week i have a link that will make you think twice about the way we treat are beautiful locks. the following weeks i will have a blog about some of the things i got after i took this quiz. I found the quiz in "womens Health Mag" it was quick and really made me think and say "what !?" to a couple things. here is you pretty link &lt<3YourHair

Monday, November 22, 2010

So i have been looking at other blogs and on twitter and i have noticed allot of give aways. But specifically allot of giveaways that include books. Books that are both guides to help vegans through their journey and others reminders why they switched over to the side of tasty spinach and avocados. Here is my personal list of books that i hope read sometime soon.

Sunday, November 21, 2010

First off here is my first video its a welcome one kind of and i say what im going to be talking about today.

so the company i mentioned is called

Special Effects

they are a vegan friendly company although their colors are not any that i would wear i know there are teen vegans and even some artsy vegans who like to dye their hair different colors.

From personal experience if you use a little of the electric blue or you know add it in to your black hair dye you kind of get a blue black color that is actually very very amazing. i have done it before and so has my close friend nia. Of course neither of us have used this product but its about the same color.

These are just some examples from google.

I believe the second example is kind of a highlight thing but it looks very nice.

so i know i had an exercise log before in the mash but this was not as efficient as i thought it would be. So now i made an entire section for it. this was i can see how i am working out and you can try and go either the same pace or go faster.
last week i did yoga Tuesday and Wednesday night
Thursday i did my own little ab workout
and Friday i slept and did homework
and this weekend has been super hectic with all the homework that i have had time to yet but however i shall be getting back on track with this and will be posting frequently.

Saturday, November 20, 2010

So i have had a chaotic weekend from an early friends thanks giving to a fun filled Saturday of laundry, dishes, and about a mountain pile of home work.
so have you ever wondered how stressed a college student gets well here is how stressed we get.

But after hours of studying and frying my brain to death i decided i needed a brake. and of course what better brake to take than a SNACK brake my dad came to the dorms to day and dropped off a bunch of beautiful ripe bananas and i decided i really wanted muffins. I looked through my recipe binder and realized i had all the ingredients to make the banana oatmeal muffins. here is the recipe :http://yvonne131321.blogspot.com/2010/08/gluten-free-banana-oatmeal-muffins.html

i forgot to add on this that you must preheat to 375 degrees.

they look yummy huh well they are i don't really like to keep them in their little white dollies so i placed them in a container for easy grabbing when i want a quick snack.

i also made really food for dinner i needed something other than frozen vegan pizzas and salad so i made this:

white rice and "platanos maduro" and seitan with a red saucy sauce.

"platanos maduro"

one ripe plantain (yellow)

cut diagonally

fry until golden brown and juicy

"Red Saucy Sauce"

4 tbl spoons of tomato sauce.

1/2 cup vegetable broth

1/2 tbl spoon of garlic powder (unless you have really garlic then 3 cloves crushed and placed in to the sauce.

pinch of pepper

1/2 tsp of paprika

1/2 tsp of ground cumin

"Yummy Seitan"

put a little oil in the frying pan then place the striped seitan in it i used (soy wheat)

then let it begin to heat up gradually put the sauce in little by little along it to cook in between mixing 's

one the entire sauce is used up let it sit.

and enjoy

Hope all of your weekends have gone better !

Just wanted to give a personal good bye to my readers thanks for reading and keep supporting check out all the other blogs on my blog roll. My blog roll is filled with interesting reads and people support.

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

This sexy arm exercise puts your multitasking skills to work. The first part of this quick workout targets your back, legs, and biceps. "Then the twist engages your shoulders and triceps, and challenges your obliques too," says trainer Marta Montenegro, who features the exercise in her DVD MM21 Strength: Get Toned. Try it three times a week, and don't be surprised when people start noticing your newly sculpted sexy arms.

2-Minute Sexy Arm Exercise: Row To Raise

Works: back, biceps, triceps, shoulders, abs, and legs

You'll need: A 5- to 8-pound dumbbell (and room to lunge).

Workout details: Do 2 sets of 10 to 12 reps. Beginners, use a lighter weight.

1) Stand holding a dumbbell in your left hand at your side. Lunge forward with right leg and place right hand on right thigh. Extend left arm forward and down.

2) Bend left elbow and draw the weight toward your side [A].

3) Straighten left arm behind you, then turn shoulders to the left as you rotate left arm 180 degrees, so palm faces left; move right hand to your belly [B]. Hold for 1 count, then return to starting position; repeat. Switch sides to finish set.

Make it harder: Lunge onto a balance disc or couch cushion.

Full Body Workout: Flat Abs

Chances are you're already doing crunches regularly, but to get the flat abs that cause double takes, you need a sculptor that targets more muscles. This is it! "Rotating with the resistance band really strengthens your obliques—the muscles on the sides of your midsection—which can make your waistline appear more narrow," says Irv Cheung, owner of IC Fitness in New York City, who designed this quick workout. Using the stability ball also forces your abs to work harder to do the twist, adds Cheung. Try this flat abs exercise, and your tummy will be turning heads in no time.

2-Minute Flat Abs Exercise: Super Twist

Works: core and legs

You'll need: A handled resistance tube and a stability ball.

Workout details: Do 2 sets of 12 reps. Beginners, try it without the ball.

1) Anchor one end of a resistance tube to a secure object at waist height and stand with right side closest to it.

2) Grasp handle with left hand and hold a stability ball in front of you, elbows slightly bent so tube is taut around middle of ball.

3) Stand with feet wide, toes turned out, and squat [A]. Straighten legs as you rotate torso to the left [B]. Return to squat; repeat. Switch sides to complete set.

Hello guys so recently very recently like last night as i made the thanksgiving post i got cut of my dance team for choosing to go to class instead of dance. I'm sure you all know how frustrating and painful it must of been for me I need dance in my life and usually i need some kind of activity in my life that makes me active so i don't go insane. Any way so do to that i ended up taking a break from technology and painting my nails with my roommate and reading the book "Pretty little liars " the first book anyway. But on to something less depressing so in the past month since i have not given any actual updates since September I have had several events.
1) baby Aiden's baptism

isn't he such an adorable baby
2) I got a new laptop that is amazing i have decided to name her POLLY

polly isa Toshiba satellite 1165
3) my eating habbits have been like this maybe i get to eat like this ooo once a week there is no time and no good food on a college campus. and it is very hard to find time to cook my own food. (Coming soon undercover college dorm living vegan : im hoping to show you and inside view of dorm living. )

4) for Halloween i was in my old felician cheerleading uniform my roommate was the crazy zombie on the right.

5) the first Halloween party we had i was ...... (comon now guess ) ... ok ok i was SNOOKIE ! however do not think i watch the jersey shore i did it in protest to one of my friends but i got allot of " omg you actually look like snookie comments.

so now that you have that small but brief update. i have been having a heard time with my vegan diet there is nothing ABSOLUTELY nothing to eat on campus besides salad. Don't get me wrong i love a good salad but every day i just cant handle that i like hot food. In light of this situation i went looking this morning for motivation on how to become a more active vegan and just be comfortable in knowing that everything i do has a great and positive reason behind it. and then i found this :

Teen activist her-name is Nia Froome i found this article on the VEG NEWS. it is a very good article for those of you who think we cant make a difference this just shows you can at any age.

ok so after i found this article i went on a search for people in the spotlight who are vegan who are not only making a difference in the animal world but in my world too.

recently i have heard that alicia silverstone cheats on her vegan life style so I'm not sure if i should put her up here but you guys let me know how you felt when you found out that news because when i did i was a bit dumb founded. like how do you cheat on your vegan lifestyle.

well guys i see this was kind of a long winded post but i got all my updates in and more to come

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

So Thanks Giving is next week who else is excited common on now you know you all are. So tonight in light of the fact that I'm taking a small break from my studies and relaxing by blogging. Here is a Vegan Thanksgiving recipes and tips i found.